D-001.

6 Days Before Launch.

The moon falls and the sun rises, and with it, so do all the world's living creatures. Chickens announce the arrival of another blissful morning as birds begin to-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey, Icarus! You need to open the door! I know you think you are all grown up now but this doesn't give you the choice to ditch college, you hear?!"

Amy continues to furiously knock on the door.

"Rose, for the love of….yawn….please just…" Shadow's breath hitches, he catches himself, swallows and covers his mouth before continuing "...open the damn door. We didn't install locks in his room for a reason…" Practically dragging himself out of the room at this early hour.

Amy: "But that modern parenting book that Miles brought said to 'respect your teenagers' privacy'. Besides, I don't wanna barge in and see something I would rather not.'

Shadow: "If he is doing something that he shouldn't even after your 50 loud knocks, then him getting kicked out is just natural selection."

Amy: "Shadow! Don't joke like that!"

Shadow snickers as Amy pouts, folds her arms and looks away with a "Hmph!"

He then does a single, weak knock, and opens the door slowly. Amy hiding behind Shadow juuusttt in case.

Shadow sighs as he pushes the door wide open and realises that Icarus wasn't even there. The only sign of movement is the curtain on the open window, fluttering in the wind.

He turns to his wife and looks at her with an unamused look.

Amy looks down and to the side

Amy: "Uhhh…w-well you see…I…uhh…."

"What is it that you always tell me? 'I married an imbecile?'" Shadow says as he pinches the top of his nose with his fingers in an overly exaggerated manner.

Amy, however, gets slightly upset by this, considering that she already had feelings of guilt that she tried to disguise by humour from Icarus running off. She doesn't say a word, thinking being upset would be unreasonable in the current situation. After all, they do this banter all the time, right?

As she ponders her emotions, Shadow notices her facial expression changing.

Shadow: "Hey. Let's go check up with Miles, Icarus probably went off there to try and convince him to let him go on the ship."

Amy: "I…I should stay here and make something to eat-"

Shadow: "Don't fret over that. Besides, there was this bakery near Miles' that I always wanted to eat at."

Amy looks up at Shadow with a playful smirk, realising what he's trying to do. "Oh yeah? Since when?"

"You know, since like…forever!" Shadow is tragically bad at lying.

"Yeah, right. Come on, honey. Let's get moving." The smile audible through her tone, she was already moving out of the front door. Shadow walks behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. A 'honey' with a smile means a job well done.

As they walk out of the house, Amy looks back at the trailing Shadow with a blindingly white grin.

Shadow smiles in embarrassment for a moment.

Shadow: "Alright, alright, what gave it away?"

Amy giggles uncontrollably

Shadow: "W-what?"

"There is no bakery next to Miles', you dumbass."

"Oh…"

Amy looks back ahead and bursts into laughter.

Shadow simply shakes his head with a chuckle.

…

"I WaNNa Fly HigghTTTT sO i CaN reAcH tHe hIghEST, oF aLL the HeavAns! SoMebODy will BE WAITING FOR MEEEE SO I-HaVe go-T to FlY hIghEr, i Will BELIVER IN MYSELFF-"

Suddenly, Miles feels a gust of victorious wind entering his underground lab, he quickly removes the protective metallic mask he has on as he turns around.

"MILES!"

Tails gulps in shock, only to see it's just Icarus. Even in the darkness of the lab, the guy just has a silhouette that is very hard to miss. Despite that, because of the flickering and weak blue light that illuminates the otherwise dark lab, he confused him for someone else for just a brief second.

Tails: "O-oh…hey, it's just you. Why didn't you like…knock or something?"

Icarus: "Man, screw that, you okay?!"

Tails: "I…Y-yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Icarus: "Well, it's just…I heard what seemed like a chicken crying out in pain, it must have been really bad because it was talking about flying high to heaven and what not, you are telling me you didn't hear that?"

Tails: "W-well…the only sound that was here , aside from the tools obviously, was…me…singing…"

"...Ah. I see."

"Tell you what, can you promise me NOT to let anyone know about this?"

"That depends, can you promise to let me on that trip?"

"Ha! Fat chance, pal." Tails scoffs as he pulls his mask back on his face, turns around, and continues to sharpen a metal rod using a saw. A surprisingly quiet one.

Icarus groans in defeat, and walks out to leave, but then gets curious about something.

Icarus: "Hey, Miles…can I…ask you something?"

Icarus' tone makes Tails stop dead in his tracks.

Miles: "Look, I told you already, the answer is no. I mean, feel free to try and refute with your old man, thought I doubt-"

"No, not about that…I…..Well, did you…did you know someone named Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Tails doesn't look back at Icarus, but he stops the saw. He ponders for a moment what he should say.

'He was the world's hero..' No. Too much info. Or, too little. He doesn't know how much Shadow told him of the past.

'He was the world's fastest thing alive!' It works well enough, doesn't really conflict with anything…but…saying just that would be undermining the legacy he left behind. Doing all the things he did, and to be only known by one meaningless trait…it wasn't right. Perhaps to a stranger, or a curious student, it works… but…

"Take care of Icarus." Not for him. Not for Icarus.

Tails gets stumped.

'What would he do?' No. Not like that.

'What should I do?' No. Not the right question, either.

'What is right for me to do?'...

Maybe it's time to let the cat out of the bag. Shadow and Amy would be upset for god knows how long…but…he knows what is the right thing to do. He can't lie, so he won't lie.

Miles: "Icarus…"

Tails turns back to Icarus, and slowly removes the protective mask from his face, showing Icarus the full vulnerability in his eyes.

Miles: "Sonic the Hedgehog is…was, many things to a lot of different people…but I want you to know that…your parents only had the best interests for you in their hearts when they didn't tell you about what I am about to tell you…"

Icarus: "Which is…?"

Miles: "Well, Sonic the Hedgehog…is your-"

"ICARUS! YOU IN THERE?!"

Icarus: "Oh god, that's FATHER. Look man, I am not even supposed to be here, do NOT tell them I was here, okay?!" Icarus is already standing up to make a run for it.

Miles: "B-but-"

Icarus: "We will talk about this Sonic guy later, alright? I…I gotta go, man."

And just as fast as he came. Icarus is out of the building.

Shadow's eyes are too fast for that trick.

3 minutes later, the girls that first saw Icarus fumble that water cup on his first day gossip and giggle among themselves as the dark, brooding hedgehog drags Icarus by the foot to the University's entrance.

And with that, the rest of the day unremarkably passes as the world sleeps in peace once more…

5 days to go…